Once home to the famous literary siblings – who drew inspiration for their classic works from the neighbouring moorland – it attracts visitors from across the world, keen to see where the sisters wrote and how they lived.But whilst the past is central to any museum, parsonage bosses are also keen to look to the future.And the team's ambitious plans were outlined to Keighley MP Robbie Moore during a visit to the site.He met up with museum director Rebecca Yorke, who showed him around a historic building – bought by the Brontë Society last year – in the village's West Lane.The three derelict adjoining properties were acquired shortly before they were due to be sold at auction.They include the former studio of photographer Fred Smith, who was caretaker of the original Brontë Museum when it was situated above the Yorkshire Penny Bank in the early 1900s.Many of Smith's photographs, which document the Haworth of that time, are now in the Brontë Society archive and it's hoped some will be displayed in the building once renovations are complete.The premises will also provide additional space for the society's growing archive and team, and offer opportunities for closer engagement with residents and visitors.Following the release of the latest movie version of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, visitor numbers to the museum have enjoyed a boost.Mr Moore says: "It was fantastic to meet with Rebecca and hear about the society's exciting plans for the future."The Brontë Parsonage is one of the most important literary sites in the country and it was great to hear about the continued success of the museum – particularly following the recent Wuthering Heights film."A huge 'thank you' to Rebecca and the team for the update, and tour of the newly-acquired buildings in West Lane which have massive potential. I’m looking forward to seeing the plans progress."Rebecca says: "We were very happy to welcome Robbie to the museum and have the opportunity to update him on our recent successes and share our aims and ambitions for the future."We take our responsibilities as custodians of the Brontës' legacy and as a world-renowned visitor attraction very seriously, and are pleased to have our contribution to the area's cultural offer and economy recognised by our MP." (Alistair Shand)
Pick of the weekWuthering HeightsEmerald Fennell has done a grand job dialling up the scandal over her new adaptation of Emily Brontë’s windswept novel. But aside from the casting of a white actor (Jacob Elordi) as the arguably non-white Heathcliff – and an unexpected S&M subplot – this is the bodice-ripping historical romance most fans would wish for. Margot Robbie plays Cathy as a frustrated social climber torn between a life of luxury with Shazad Latif’s Edgar and the earthy lust offered by the uncouth Heathcliff. For its look, Fennell goes full gothic, a la Guillermo del Toro, with stormy skies, unbridled sex on the moors, ludicrous costumes and often bizarre interior design, as the love story comes to a boil.Friday 1 May, 8.25am, 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere (Simon Wardell)
For many years, Malouf divided his time between Sydney and Tuscany. Later, he returned to Queensland and lived in an apartment tower overlooking the beach at Surfers Paradise, where he first read Jane Eyre as a 12-year-old on summer holidays. (Nicola Heath)
For those unfamiliar with the premise of Jane Eyre, the 1847 novel was written by Charlotte Brontë. (Yes, she was Emily Brontë's older sister.) The story follows the eponymous orphaned character as she enters into service as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she presides over the education of an orphaned French girl, Adèle Varens. Adele is the ward of Thornfield Hall's master, Edward Rochester. Despite Rochester's surly demeanor, he and Jane eventually fall in love. He proposes, she accepts—and then a haunting secret from Rochester's past emerges.The Chateau on Sunset borrows the major storyline and transplants it into the Golden Age of Hollywood. The backdrop is none other than the famed Chateau Marmont, whose history is just as tumultuous as the lives of the rich and famous who have sequestered behind its walls. In Lester's retelling, Jane becomes Aria Jones, an orphan sent from New York to live with her aunt, the mysterious former Hollywood legend Miss Devine Ray, at the Chateau. There, Aria makes it her business to blend in, hiding herself from her aunt's drug- and alcohol- induced stupors and evading the preying, powerful men who walk the halls. Her two closest friends are up-and-coming actresses Flitter Reeve and Calliope Burns. Aria wants one thing: To escape on her 18th birthday and live by the ocean. But all that is thrown to the wind when the hotel is purchased by brooding rockstar Theo Winchester, who promptly moves into the penthouse with his daughter, Adele.Lester captures the opulence, corruption, glamour, power, success and fear that coursed through the waning days of Hollywood's golden age, transposing characters from Jane Eyre so that the plot is familiar but the story wholly original.Aria is a compelling character, but not just because she's a sketch of one of my favorite heroines. In the author's note, Lester made the interesting observation that one of the sticking points of Jane Eyre is Rochester and his wife, Bertha. Bertha famously sets fire to Thornfield Hall, which causes Jane to flee and seemingly break up with Rochester. When someone says Jane Eyre, it's usually associated with "crazy wife in the attic." This is where Lester does Aria a good turn.Similarly to actual historical events, Chateau Marmont does indeed go up in flames—but what happens next is a story that puts the girl front and center. Instead of simply running back to Theo, Aria must decide who she is going to become. And, more importantly, who she wants to become. A wallflower content with operating behind the scenes and being invisible must realize that she's worthy of the spotlight. Lester's book is powerful to me because of the fact that Theo and his ex are the afterthought. The events that lead to the conclusion of Aria's story are unexpected, taking her far from the confines of LA and exploring how satisfaction isn't so much falling in love with another person as it is falling in love with herself. (Marissa Wu)
The Bearden theatre has taken on the production of Jane Eyre, a literary staple highlighting the internal struggles of a young woman set in early 19th century England.The play follows Jane as she navigates religious and moral hardships stemming from her relationships and conflicting setting.A towering chestnut tree roots the audience into the set. The tree is commonly interpreted as a symbol of Jane’s suffering due to Rochester’s villainous wife Bertha; however, Bearden theatre added a layer of emotion in the designing process.“In a lot of ways, the tree is also a point of safety for Jane…it’s more of a comforting place for her,” said senior and production manager Addison Pratt. [...]Altering their own production of Jane Eyre from 2005, the set crew believed introducing the tree could augment an already impressive production. Visually, the set piece adds a realistic element to the stage, framing Jane’s relationship with her setting. The chestnut tree will act as one of many interactive elements within the play.“This was a new edition that we added and I think it adds a lot,” Pratt said.The set will go beyond traditional physical props moved on and off the stage. Working closely with the theatre department at UT, the crew was able to utilize projection mapping within the show. This technical feature will allow certain visual effects to be precisely projected onto the set, heightening the emotion of the play.“We worked closely with the Clarence Brown Theatre downtown and have borrowed some projectors from them,” senior and set crew member Alex Mair said. “We’ve used some programs to projection map creative elements onto the stage for certain scenes.Added Pratt: “Our team has spent a lot of time really figuring out the different programs that we can use and finding a way to make the projections work really well on our stage, and it looks really cool.”The theatre department will step away from traditional auditorium seating for the show, as on stage seating deepens the audience-cast connection simply from their proximity to the stage. Both cast and crew look forward to the creative elements that will be in high definition for spectators.“While I think that traditional auditorium seating is great for big, flashier shows, you just feel so much more involved with the characters [through on stage seating],” Mair said. “You can see every single movement that’s happening, every single little detail, and it makes the story feel a lot more interactive.”Added Pratt: “It’s definitely a much more intimate experience, which I think is really cool.”Senior Caitlin Stout appreciates the creative liberty given to the crew throughout the production. Stout believes that as a member of set crew, it was her role to not only produce impressive design elements, but to aid the cast in their presentation. What turned into yet another showing of Bearden’s standard for creative set design first began with simple features for the cast to make their own.“We wanted the set to be a canvas for the actors to take on and not have to work around designs within the set,” she said. (Max Mead)
Students from Edgewood High School are presenting “You on the Moors Now” for an upcoming performance.“You on the Moors Now” is about four women from the 19th century novels that turn down marriage proposals.The performance tracks Jo March from “Little Women,” Elizabeth Bennet from “Pride and Prejudice,” Catherine Earnshaw from “Wuthering Heights” and Jane Eyre from “Jane Eyre” and follows them figuring out their romantic ideologies.“It’s really great to bring classic literature back to the stage in a modern retelling of it,” Bella Baldo, who plays Earnshaw, said. “Being able to bring themes from modern culture into classic literature and really they have been there all along.”Along with Baldo, Daphne Conner is casted as March, Ellie O’Day plays Jane Eyre and Ruthie Brenner plays the role of Bennet.“I’m really excited for them to see the battle scene because it’s really chaotic and obscured, but it’s also really funny at the same time,” O’Day said. “We have a lot of cool weapons.” (Calahan Steed)
Charlotte Brontë“One of my favorite books is the British classic ‘Jane Eyre,’ written by Charlotte Brontë and published in 1847. The main character, Jane Eyre, is a penniless, teenage orphan who exemplifies what it means to be true. In this fictional account, a man, Mr. Rochester, loves Miss Eyre but is unable to marry her. Instead, he begs Miss Eyre to live with him without the benefit of marriage. Miss Eyre loves Mr. Rochester as well, and for a moment she is tempted, asking herself, ‘Who in the world cares for you? Or who will be injured by what you do?’“Quickly Jane’s conscience answers: ‘I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God. … Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this. … If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth — so I have always believed. … Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot.’“In a desperate moment of temptation, Jane Eyre was true to her beliefs, she trusted in the law given by God, and she planted her foot in resistance to temptation.”— Sister Ann M. Dibb, then the second counselor in the Young Women general presidency, April 2011 general conference, “I Believe in Being Honest and True” (Kaitlyn Bancroft)
NationalTheater Mannheim presentsSturmhöheafter the novel by Emily BrontëPremiere: 24 April 2026 at the Ales Kino FranklinConcept Charlotte Sprenger, Aleksandra Pavlović, Olivia EbertAdaptation Charlotte Sprenger, Olivia EbertDirection Charlotte SprengerWith: Jessica Higgins, Annemarie Brüntjen, Shirin Ali, Rocco Brück, Rahel Weiss and Fabian DottSturmhöhe is an untamed, dark fairy tale about an abysmal love, about violence, revenge and reconciliation, full of longing for nature and death, and without moral constraints. That this work came from the pen of a woman was a scandal in 1847. In Charlotte Sprenger's sensuous production, three sisters — inspired by the writing Brontë sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne — invent and play their way through this wild and free novel.Even as children, the Brontë sisters dreamt up fantasy worlds, thereby laying the foundation for their poems and novels. Their father's books, the moorland, the stormy weather and the headstrong people of their immediate surroundings inspire them with ideas for the grand adventures of their role-playing. The girls embody notorious heroes and courageous women, explore observed and invented behaviour, and shatter social stereotypes. On this evening they play together the story of Heathcliff, the foundling from a distant land, and Catherine Earnshaw, the tempestuous daughter from Yorkshire. As the evening unfolds, the sisters invent ever-new twists, the consequences of which they impose on one another as characters within their own story. After their father's death, brother Hindley suddenly becomes the Master of Wuthering Heights. He subjugates his siblings, drinks, gambles and squanders the family estate. And when Cathy marries the wealthy and well-bred Edgar Linton from the neighbouring property, a humiliated Heathcliff leaves the area. But the deep spiritual kinship of the sisters transcends every separation…
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Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore (Conservative) introduced a Parliamentary debate considering the impact windfarm development might have on 2,300 hectares of protected peatland.He argued the case against Calderdale Energy Park’s proposals to place up to 34 wind turbines on Walshaw Moor above Hebden Bridge which will impact on Calderdale and Bradford in West Yorkshire and Pendle in Lancashire.Calderdale Energy Park, whose statutory public consultation on the proposals runs until June 10, argues the site is in an area identified for generating on-shore wind power, helping deliver “reliable, home-grown renewable energy, helping to reduce energy costs, support local jobs and strengthen energy security”, the turbines capable of generating up to 240 mega watts (MW) on renewable energy.But Mr Moore said this would come at a price to protected peatland, including damaging a vital carbon store, among other impacts on nature, and have a severe impact on the setting of key cultural heritage.Taken together, that price would be too high, said Mr Moore in the debate.“Understandably, our much-loved Brontë Society is firmly against the proposed wind farm development across our heritage landscape, which encompasses Top Withens, believed to be the inspiration for the setting of ‘Wuthering Heights’.“That landscape, I might add, has a live application worked up right now for UNESCO world heritage status, along with listed status for Top Withens.“If this wind farm proposal goes ahead, that landscape will be blighted forever.“We know that because, even after the decommissioning stage of the wind farm, none of the infrastructure is proposed to be removed, apart from the turbines themselves.“The road infrastructure, all that cabling and those deep foundations that sit beneath the turbines are not proposed to be removed once the wind farm comes to the end of its life, blighting our heritage landscape and the peat forever.”Mr Moore said he had invited neighbouring MPs – for Shipley, Calder Valley, Halifax, Pendle and Clitheroe, and Burnley – to the debate and urged them to join him opposing the proposals, but was disappointed only Shipley MP Anna Dixon (Labour) and Calder Valley’s Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour) attended.Ms Dixon said she agreed with him that peatlands “are crucial in our fight against climate change” and also reduced flood risk, a very evident concern in Calder Valley.She had been contacted over the proposals by some constituents: “They rightly believe that protected peatland should be protected.“I agree with them, and I think that the Labour Government, and I hope the Minister, will give the same assurance – I believe that is why there has been a recent announcement that large infrastructure must also be covered by a biodiversity net gain.“I urge the Government to listen to the arguments made in this debate.“There could clearly be major negative impacts on our precious peatlands in this area of Yorkshire, and I ask that the Government look carefully and reconsider the proposals.”Mr Fenton-Glynn, who since the proposals were announced has been under pressure from some constituents to openly oppose the plans, said he knew the moorland well and it was a “uniquely beautiful landscape, resplendent with curlews, lapwings and other moorland birds” though in itself this would not be reason to block the plans as the country needed to ramp up green energy infrastructure.But following the science should inform the process: “The more we learn about peat and its role in absorbing carbon, the clearer it is that building on peat will do more harm than good,” he said.Mr Fenton-Glynn said his point was not about a development in Calderdale but about the principle of trying to tackle climate change and looking at that “in the round” with regard to developments on peat and whether any developments on peat make sense.“I think my position is fairly clear from what I am saying.“I followed the evidence where it led me, and it led me to the concerns that I have expressed to Ministers fairly constantly, to the point where I have made clear my view that building on protected peat is counter-productive to our climate change aims,” he said.Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Chris McDonald, responding for the Government, said: “From the contributions we have heard today, I would say there is strong agreement in this room on the need both to tackle climate change and to care for our special environments in the UK, including peatland.“Because peat soils are rich in carbon, disturbances will have climate impacts.“We therefore recognise that building infrastructure such as onshore wind on peatland can have detrimental impacts, and we appreciate that communities have valid concerns about that.“That is why we have protections in the planning system requiring careful consideration from developers and decision makers when onshore wind farm developments are proposed on peatlands.Mr McDonald said the Government was committed to publishing additional guidance regarding wind farm construction on peatland in England.The Government was also in ongoing discussions with the Scottish Government about developing a carbon calculator tool for England similar to the one currently used in Scotland, which could inform policy decisions around developments on peatlands, he said.Mr Moore said the debate had been worthwhile but he still had major concerns – the Government offering guidance rather than protection.He claimed neighbouring MPs had not put forward a position as to whether they would join him in campaigning “as strongly as we can against this application.”“Concerns have been raised, but there is no formal position,” said Mr Moore. (John Greenwood)
‘The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’ by Anne Brontë (1848)“Wuthering Heights” may be the Brontë novel of the moment, but Anne Brontë’s 1848 novel, “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,” stands apart as one of the earliest feminist novels. The book begins with the arrival of the mysterious young widow Helen Graham and her son in a small town in Northern England. Rather than residing near the other villagers, Mrs. Graham chooses to inhabit a run down mansion on a hill named Wildfell Hall. Her behavior attracts disdain from others but intrigues a young farmer named Gilbert Markham. After he discovers her dark secret, Markham finally understands why Mrs. Graham hides away in her forbidding home. In “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,” Brontë depicts the dark side of domesticity, rendering a staunch critique of the unequal treatment that women received in 19th century marriages. Mrs. Graham’s fearless abandonment of her husband makes her one of the first feminist characters. She does not desire to stick to convention but literally runs away from it. (Nina M. Jasanoff)
Among her strongest works are those of women. Rooted, sturdy and beefy-thighed, they seem to defy their apparent vulnerability. In the wonderful pastel on paper of Jane Eyre, the lone figure stands hands on her hips in a workaday red dress, nursing an air of rebellion. While her study for Germaine Greer shows the feminist icon sitting knees flopped open in a gesture of sexual defiance. (Sue Hubbard)
Wuthering Heights is one of those stories that always seems to be getting a new adaptation, with many proving somewhat divisive for fans of the original novel. Earlier this year, Emerald Fennell's take on the classic tale was released in cinemas, and, like many adaptations before it, left fans divided.As a huge fan of the original novel, I knew I just had to see the film; although, having seen some reviews ahead of time, I was rather sceptical. I was a little shocked, though, as the film actually ended up being worse than I had predicted – and felt more like bad fan-fiction than an adaptation of Emily Brontë's writing. From bizarre casting, to out-of-character storylines and cutting out half of the story, the film was ultimately rather disappointing.And while there are certainly plenty of other bad adaptations of Wuthering Heights out there (MTV's version, anyone?), there are some that are actually quite good.One that has remained popular since its release, at least among fans of the Brontës, is the 2009 mini-series starring Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley as Heathcliff and Cathy – a pairing whose chemistry was so good that they've since married in real life and welcomed two children together.True to the story, however, the pair's on-screen counterparts didn't quite get a happy ending. Unlike the 2026 adaptation, and many others too, the 2009 version opted against stopping halfway through the story.While the 2009 mini-series isn't without its issues, Heathcliff being white-washed being one inaccuracy that both adaptations are guilty of, the heart of the story itself is still there. (Isobel Pankhurst)
Joanne explained how Emily Bronte’s 1847 masterpiece has impacted her as an artist:The part of Wuthering Heights which always stays in forefront of my mind is actually within the third chapter where the narrator’s ghostly experience with an icy hand outside his window, the tree knocking at the window and Cathy’s ‘Let me in’” says Joanne, “then in the concluding chapters her ghost is always there, ever present.I hope that I can do it some kind of justice, not an easy thing to do by any means especially as my understanding of the meanings within it have developed and changed in parallel with my own life and emotional experiences.In a strange twist of fate when I was only 13, Kate Bush released her Wuthering Heights which at that time spoke to me exactly as I felt about the novel…and started me on new creative journeys with a passion for music, which in its turn led me to art college.That was 40 years ago and little could the young art student Joanne have known how much the dramatic landscapes that the novel conjured would change the direction of her life.Joanne said:The seeds of my love of Yorkshire were sown when I was very young, indeed decades before I ever visited the county. From the age of nine or ten I read novels voraciously: Dickens, Hardy, Elliot, Austin [sic] and the Brontës, and a lot of the literature, poems and plays of that era.But it was always the Brontë novels that fascinated me most, the ones that over the years I have read over and over, my understanding of which has grown and altered as I have. Through their writing I developed a love for the wilds and the moors that I had never seen: until I was in my 40s and came for a week every year with my four children, renting an old North Yorkshire farmhouse with no neighbours and no internet or telephone signal.And so another 20 years on and I am living here and breathing the wild and the wuthering, and wanting to try to express my own impressions of my favourite Brontë novel: Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, in my own artistic medium of precious jewellery.During the past year, Joanne has been liaising with a stone carver from the renowned gemstone cutting region of Idar-Oberstein in Germany, to create a carved rock crystal image of Cathy. This carved head is approaching completion and she will have it at her studio for the launch of the Pateley Jewellery Quarter on the weekend of 25/26 April. The design, a vignette or picture piece, can be worn as a brooch or pendant but also is intended to be displayed as a work of art in precious materials.It will represent that ‘Cathy’ moment at the window which in many ways defines and saturates the whole story.Joanne said:Many completed pieces of jewellery in my studio have the influence of the Yorkshire landscape running within them. Indeed it has been an influence on my work for very many years. So now I am delighted that I can call this place my heartfelt home.I am always very happy to discuss my work and to create jewellery pieces for individual clients which will speak to them in a personal and life-affirming way. Since neolithic times people have felt the joy of creating and wearing jewellery, its possession seems to be an intrinsic part of the human condition. It feels the perfect time for me to create an iconic art piece of Wuthering Heights.
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Thu 23 Apr2pm Brotnë Space at the Old School Room7:30pm ZoomThis talk will be given by Professor Corinne Fowler, an author, public historian and co-curator of The Colonial Brontës exhibition at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in 2026.Corinne discusses Heathcliff's racial identity in Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel, Wuthering Heights. The talk will detail the colonial reading material which shaped Emily Brontë’s conception of Heathcliff's background and character before discussing references to Heathcliff's racial identity in the novel itself as well as in film versions of Wuthering Heights. The talk ends by focusing on the real-life historical presence of African people in the local area which spanned both Emily's lifetime and the period covered by the novel.
Old School RoomThe history and landscape of Haworth continue to inspire many artists, writers and poets. We are delighted to host the launch of local poet Lydia Macpherson’s pamphlet The Heights (Calder Valley Poetry). Lydia now lives in the last inhabited house before Top Withens. Her five times great-grandfather Jonas Sunderland farmed Top Withens (widely believed to be the location for Wuthering Heights) during the lifetimes of the Brontës. Her first collection, Love Me Do (Salt, 2014), won the Crashaw Prize.Lydia will be joined by special guest poets Clare Shaw and Alan Buckley. Clare’s poetry collections include Towards a General Theory of Love (Bloodaxe, 2022) which won a Northern Writers’ Award. Their poetry is anthologised in the National Trust’s Nature Poems (2023) and 100 Queer Poems (Vintage Penguin Random House 2022). Alan Buckley’s collections include Touched (HappenStance, 2020) and Still (Blue Diode Press, 2025). He is a founding member editor of ignitionpress and has taught creative writing to young people with both First Story and Arvon.
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the lovelorn Ophelia famously drowns. The prince of Denmark has cruelly spurned her, her father has died, and she’s stricken with grief. If only she had realized Taylor Swift’s vision for her: In the song “The Fate of Ophelia,” the pop star imagines that she has instead been saved by a new suitor. Her version of the tragic figure, Swift sings, is “no longer drowning and deceived, all because you came for me.”Hollywood has been making me think of Swift’s track quite a bit lately. The sparkly earworm deploys one of her favorite tricks: messing around with a literary classic for lyrical fodder. Cinema has been going through its own “Fate of Ophelia” era these past few months, with a litany of new adaptations that dramatically alter their source material. The writer-director Emerald Fennell turned Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë’s Gothic novel about obsession and social status, into erotic fanfiction. [...]Updating a classic isn’t inherently a bad idea; Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, a dutiful adaptation of Shelley’s 1818 novel, just won three Oscars, and Fennell’s Wuthering Heights has enjoyed an excellent box-office run. Yet most of these projects have been as superficial as Swift’s single, in which Ophelia survives just by pledging “allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes”—a cheeky reference to Swift’s fiancé, to be sure, but Ophelia’s problem was never really about the vibes. That reductiveness, though, works far better in a four-minute pop song than in a feature-length film. Call it the rise of CliffsNotes Cinema—watered-down transformations that offer glossy but thin summaries of the originals and strip away the challenging material that helped turn them into cultural mainstays in the first place. These movies make the provocative palatable: Uncomfortable relationships and nuanced characterizations—essentially, what made the stories endure—get lost in the fog of showy filmmaking. [...]This type of nuance all but disappears in CliffsNotes Cinema, which often looks incredible—I’m certainly taken with the costumes in Wuthering Heights, as well as with the soaring sets in Frankenstein —but robs its audience of the chance to analyze anything for themselves. That’s largely because these movies dull the sharpest edges of their source material, aiming for obvious takeaways regardless of how nonsensically they’re rendered. Despite never giving its titular character an opportunity to explore her original identity, The Bride! gleefully insists that she has become an avatar for female empowerment. Rather than explore the book’s larger point that class is an inescapable burden, Wuthering Heights makes its central conflict about whether its protagonists can be together. These films argue that their characters act on raw emotions: lust, fury, sadness. Yet these feelings fail to linger in the audience. Unlike a Taylor Swift song that gets stuck in your head, they just fade away. (Shirley Li)
4 'Wuthering Heights' (1847) by Emily Brontë“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” The recent Emerald Fennell movie version was divisive, but Emily Brontë's original is a bona fide classic. Wuthering Heights tells the story of Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, whose intense and destructive love shapes the lives of those around them across generations. Set on the windswept Yorkshire moors, the novel unfolds through layered narration, revealing the consequences of obsession and revenge.The backdrop reflects the characters’ inner turmoil; all wild, untamed, and unforgiving. Wuthering Heights is a classic tale of passion and pain. There are also explicit supernatural elements, though they are used sparingly. Catherine’s ghost (whether real or imagined) lingers over the story, blurring the boundary between life and death. But, as with the best Gothic fiction, the supernatural is less important than the emotional reality it expresses. [...]1 'Jane Eyre' (1847) by Charlotte Brontë“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me.” Jane Eyre charts its heroine's evolution from orphan to fiercely independent woman. When she becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall, Jane falls in love with the enigmatic Mr. Rochester, only to discover a dark secret hidden within the estate. Thornfield Hall is a quintessential Gothic setting, with its locked rooms and mysterious sounds and the storm-lashed moors around it, while Rochester’s secret introduces elements of suspense and horror.Structurally, the novel balances realism with Gothic intensity. It grounds its story in social reality, particularly the class and gender dynamics of the time, while also allowing moments of uncanny coincidence and heightened emotion to break through. Its biggest strength, though, is its compelling protagonist, a three-dimensional figure, torn between desire and principle, passion and restraint. (Luc Haasbroek)
Adapted by Katie AlleyBearden High School Theatre, Knoxcille, Tennessee, USApril 23-April 26Bearden High School Theatre proudly presents Jane Eyre, a sweeping stage adaptation originally devised in 2005 by director Katie Alley, featuring an original score.Join us April 23-26, 2026, and transport into Jane’s world as she journeys through hardship at Gateshead and Lowood to love, mystery, and self-discovery at Thornfield Hall.
Brontë expert, author and scholar Deborah Lutz is flying in from the USA to share her new biography with Scarborough audiences at Queen Street on the Friday at 10am..Her This Dark Night is the first full biography of Emily Brontë in more than 20 years. Emily was 27 when she started writing Wuthering Heights. Three years later, she was dead.Out of step with her own time and remembered as the strangest of the three Brontë sisters, she has always been hard to know, especially given the destruction of her papers.Deborah is one of the few people who has felt and examined much of the Brontë’s surviving material including letters, desks, chairs and books and all of the tiny poetry manuscripts and notebooks.These include the hand-written manuscript of Emily’s poems rediscovered in 2021 at Honresfield House near the Brontë family home, Haworth Parsonage.At the opening event, Deborah will reveal the politics and events of the era as well as the delights and tragedies of the Bronte family’s life, including Emily’s sisters Anne and Charlotte, which directly inspired much of Emily’s writing.It’s a fresh take on her short but momentous life which shows why so many of us are still fascinated by the Brontë family.Deborah will be in discussion with festival patron and former head of BBC Radio Helen Boaden.The Emily Brontë theme continues with Essie Fox, the Sunday Times best-selling author of seven historical novels, including The Somnambulist which was shortlisted for the National Book Awards. She is the host of the podcast Talking the Gothic.She will be talking about her reimagining of Wuthering Heights at Queen Street on the Friday at 12.30pm. Essie Fox’s new novel Catherine, told through the narrative voice of Catherine Earnshaw, is already being hailed as a classic in its own right.Heather French, festival organiser, said: “Essie’s retelling of Wuthering Heights is haunting and atmospheric, and I was glued to it."It’s also topical as we’re now seeing a renewed cultural fascination with all things gothic – in books, films and fashion. I’m really looking forward to these two Brontë-themed events and of course we have very strong Brontë connections here in Scarborough."Anne Brontë stayed in Scarborough and is buried in St Mary’s Churchyard. (Sue Wilkinson)
While she credits Daphne du Maurier and Charlotte Brontë as inspiration – “Rebecca and Jane Eyre were the original domestic thrillers,” she told the Times – her contemporary favourites include Verity by Colleen Hoover, Room by Emma Donoghue, and The Green Mile by Stephen King. (Ella Creamer)
ZOOM: The Invention of Charlotte Brontë: Elizabeth Gaskell and her Infamous Brontë Biography by Graham Watson
Wed 22 Apr, 7:00pmSince its publication in 1857, Elizabeth Gaskell’s The Life of Charlotte Brontë has divided opinion. Some critics suggest it is historically unreliable – perhaps Gaskell’s sources were flawed and maybe she exaggerated or even invented details for profit? Now new research into her writing and methods tells a different story: that of a diligent whistleblower silenced by the very forces she sought to expose.Now Graham Watson’s The Invention of Charlotte Brontë traces the events behind Gaskell’s sensational biography and the cultural legend it inspired – from her six-year friendship with Charlotte Brontë to the media scandal that followed the book’s release, when Gaskell was pressured into a false confession of error to protect her publisher from a lawsuit.Graham Watson argues that long-standing criticisms of The Life of Charlotte Brontë, still repeated today, must be challenged, as they first appeared within weeks of its publication – and all came from the very people Gaskell had criticised.Doomed survivor of a family of geniuses, Charlotte Brontë had a life as dramatic as her famous novel, Jane Eyre. Now you can join us as Graham Watson challenges the established narrative to reveal the Brontë family as you’ve never seen them before.The first in the Charlotte Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell mini-season, in partnership with Elizabeth Gaskell’s House.
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by Sarah Gordon22-25 April 2026, including Saturday matineeDirected by Carole ShinkfieldWith Emily Duffy, Miranda Chance, Laura Elizabeth, Tom Lilly, Gareth Leadbetter, Paul Roman, Daniel Tolley, and Steve Bird.Charlotte Brontë has a confession about how one sister became an idol, and the other became known as the third sister. You know the one. No, not that one. The other, other one… Anne.This is not a story about well-behaved women. This is a story about the power of words. It’s about sisters and sisterhood, love and jealousy, support and competition.Sarah Gordon’s new play is an irreverent retelling of the life and legend of the Brontë sisters, and the story of the sibling power dynamics that shaped their uneven rise to fame.
Director Carol Shinkfield said: "They were the feminists of their time and I love the sense of anarchy within the play, which has allowed us to explore and subvert the traditional view of the Brontë sisters." (...)Quick-witted in tone, the piece dismantles the notion of the Brontës as reclusive and reserved, instead presenting them as progressive thinkers navigating the challenges of a male-dominated literary world.Carol, who recently completed an MA in theatre directing at the Arden School of Theatre, brings a fresh perspective to the show. (Jessica McKeown)
Do you voraciously read the pages of steamy romantasy bestsellers by Sarah J Maas or Rebecca Yarros? Or flood your group chat with breathless recaps of the latest goings-on in TV series such as Heated Rivalry or Bridgerton? Or even immerse yourself in the divisive and challenging cinematic worlds of Emerald Fennell? If so, you surely can’t have failed to notice that in pop culture, the female gaze – storytelling that highlights the meandering, textured, sublimely messy inner worlds and wants of women – is enjoying an explosion.On TV, you can see it everywhere, in the interior lives and desires taken up by Big Little Lies, Sirens or Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington’s Little Fires Everywhere. Romantasy harbours it in the shape of powerful maidens and sex in fae (fairy) realms, while Fennell’s Wuthering Heights and Promising Young Woman are marketed with the promise of converting women’s experiences into dark beauty on the big screen. (Deborah Linton)
Instead of excavating the forgotten story of a heroic woman from history, Natasha has built a new story that fictionalises 1950s and ‘60s Hollywood and rests it on the foundations of Jane Eyre. The orphaned heroine is Aria Jones, and she, the modern iteration of Jane, has been transported from gothic England to the Chateau Marmont during the Hollywood studio era. This new setting is no less confining than 1800s rural England, and plenty of menace lurks behind the hotel’s many doors, from ghostly apparitions to sleazy film directors.Natasha’s characters are undeniably contemporary. The young women who fill the Chateau fizz with ambition, potent beauty and unmet potential. Their stories are inspired by real stars who once graced the hotel, including Marilyn Monroe and Natalie Wood. Aspiring actresses Calliope (who cannot be called beautiful because the word is “wholly inadequate”) and Flitter, who is “chasing beauty but hasn’t caught it yet” are tools for Natasha to explore the treatment of women under the studio system, and to show how they used what meagre power they had to take control of their own fates. A teenage Aria is welcomed into their shared bedroom where she finds sisterly love and advice amid cosy pyjama-parties and mint juleps ordered from Schwab’s.The Chateau itself is almost a character. It observes and sighs and welcomes Aria, who was orphaned at the age of 13 after her parents are killed in a gas station inferno. The reason she has come to the chateau is that it is where her aunt, the washed-up actress Miss Devine Rey, lives.The narrative shifts back and forth between young, newly arrived Aria, and a more mature Aria who has taken on the role of being a sort-of governess to Adele, the daughter of the new owner of the Chateau, gruff rock star, Theo Winchester.Like Edward Rochester, Theo has a history of excess, and a mysterious, checkered past. Though he’s more conventionally attractive than the original. [...]Aria’s goal in taking a job as Adele’s carer is to save enough money to one day break free of the Chateau. Just as Jane Eyre yearns to see the world beyond the English hillside, Aria dreams of the ocean. She is haunted by apparitions of fire, which foreshadows the inevitable fate of the building.The Chateau on Sunset is not a re-telling, however, it is a re-imagining, and Natasha has allowed herself to create new fates for the characters. There is a distinct shift in tone after the famous woman-in-the-attic-scene, with plenty of surprises as the story barrels towards its ending. (Genevieve Gannon)
Ouana Alassane Sekongo, University Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Côte d’IvoireRevue des Arts, Linguistique, Littérature & Civilisations, Vol 2, Mars 2026In nineteenth-century England, Victorianism was an ideology based on the principle that men are more rational than women. As such, it divided the society into two distinct spheres, which were the private sphere for women and the public sphere for men. This paper aims to highlight that Brontë coins the character Jane, an educated and defiant girl who subverts these social norms and works hard to enter the public space just as men. In addition to textual evidence, the article relies on Judith Butler’s (1990) theory of deconstructing gender norms in order to demonstrate how Brontë’s novel questions the Victorian gender system and opens doors for women to express themselves and reveal their talents. The study concludes that after defying the ideology of Victorianism, Jane has not only got access to formal education, but also worked in the public sphere as a teacher. She, therefore, stands as a resilient and an emergent girl, serving as a role model for 21st century women.
The moors provide a staggering wealth of sensory inspiration. There is the visual poetry of purple heather and bright yellow gorse, but the true magic lies in the air itself: the scent of peaty, rain-soaked earth, moss-cloaked stones, and the sharp, ozonic chill of an approaching storm.Beyond the wilderness lies the atmospheric indoor world of the Heights and Thrushcross Grange: the smoldering woodsmoke of a centuries-old hearth, the bitterness of kitchen herbs, aged tobacco, and the sweet, golden comfort of honey and oats.If you've ever wished to carry the essence of the moors with you, I've curated a list of 12 niche and indie fragrances that capture the very heart of the Brontë sisters' world. From photorealistic rain to gothic smoke, here are the scents that will make you feel as though you've stepped directly into the mist: (Savannah)
A letter sent to the Craven Herald in 1914 shed light on author Charlotte Brontë's links with Craven. It also revealed some other fascinating snippets, writes Lesley Tate.Novelist Charlotte Bronte spent a short time as a governess for a family at Stone Gappe, on the Skipton side of Lothersdale.And 112 years ago, a "correspondent" for the Craven Herald wrote of her connections with Craven and her apparent dislike of children.Charlotte, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, lived at Haworth where she wrote her masterpiece, Jane Eyre, under the name of Currer Bell.Trained as a teacher, she spent a few years, between 1839 and 1841 as a governess, including to the Sidgwick family at their summer resident, Stone Gappe in Lothersdale.Charlotte was employed by the Sidgwicks in 1839, but did not take kindly to children, according to the Herald of 1914.On June 8, 1839 in a letter to her sister, Emily, she wrote: "The country, the house and the grounds are divine. . . The children are constantly with me, and more riotous, perverse, unmanageable cubs never grew."The Herald's correspondent of June, 26, 1914, a few weeks before Europe was plunged into war, wondered what Charlotte would have thought of the modern "enfante terrible"."Surely, most children answer to her description at some period of their lives, and is it not only healthy that they should?" they asked.Charlotte, who stayed for just a month at Stone Gappe before moving on, wrote in the same letter to her sister about Mr Sidgwick."Mr Sidgwick walked out with the children, and I had orders to follow a little behind."As he strolled on through the fields with his magnificent Newfoundland dog at his side, he looked very like what a frank, wealthy, Conservative gentleman ought to be. He spoke freely and unaffectedly to the people he met, and though he indulged his children, and allowed them to tease himself far too much, he would not suffer them grossly to insult others."It may be that Mr Sidgwick was the inspiration for Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre, published in 1847. Mr Rochester, who employed the young Jane as his governess, also had a large Newfoundland dog.It has also been suggested that one of the Sidgwick's children, John, who at one time threw a bible at Charlotte, was the inspiration for John Reed, who in Jane Eyre, throws a book at the young Jane, his step-sister.The Herald pointed out Charlotte's use of the word Conservative, and explained it was then almost a new word when applied to politics. "The good old word 'Tory' is now only used as a catchphrase by our political opponents, " said the correspondent, who left readers in no mistake as to their political leanings.Charlotte appeared to have little success as a governess, the correspondent continued, passing from post to post very rapidly.Another sister, Annie Bronte, wrote in her diary: "Charlotte has left Mrs Wooler's, been a governess at Mrs Sidgwick's, left her, and gone to Mrs White's". The extract was dated 1841, which, bearing in mind Charlotte was born in 1816, showed that she had been a governess with at least three families before she was 25-years-old.Charlotte wrote under the name of Currer Bell, and there were two popular theories about the origins of her pseudonym.One was that she had been inspired by Currer Hall, near Beamsley. But the Herald's correspondent favoured a different theory. "It is more probable that it was then in honour of the family of Currer, who then lived at Kildwick Hall. The Currers possessed a magnificent library, the greater part of which is now at Eshton Hall, " said the correspondent.There was also connection to a former headmaster of Skipton Grammar School, a Dr Cartman, who was described as a "great friend" of Charlotte's father, Patrick Bronte.A letter from Charlotte written when she was in London in June, 1851, to her father begins: "Dear Papa - I am glad to hear that you continue in pretty good health, and that Mr Cartman came to help you on Sunday."The Rev Patrick Brontë died in June, 1861 and the Bradford Review in describing the funeral at Haworth, mentions that Dr Cartman, of Skipton, was one of the bearers.The Craven Herald of June, 1853, which was then a monthly publication, described the consecration of St Mary's Church, Embsay, in which the name of the Rev A B Nicholls was included. Mr Nicholls, then curate to Patrick Brontë at Haworth, was eventually to be married to Charlotte, but according to the Herald at the time, it was not a relationship approved of by Charlotte's father."It was in December, 1852, that Mr Nicholls proposed to Charlotte, " said the correspondent."Her father, who appears to have been of a violent temper, would not hear of the match. His relations with Nicholls afterwards became so strained that the latter had no alternative but to leave."Mr Nicholls departed Haworth in May, 1853 - some ten days after the consecration of Embsay Church."It is now a matter of history that Charlotte eventually married Mr Nicholls, who survived her by many years, " said the correspondent, who writing a 100 years ago, added he had died just a few years earlier. Mr Nicholls left his portrait of Charlotte to the National Portrait Gallery, London. (Lesley Tate)
Back in the village, stop by Harrington’s butcher and deli for what locals say are “the best quiches this side of Manchester,” or enjoy a pint at The George, the 16th-century inn where a young Charlotte Brontë once stayed and found inspiration for Jane Eyre. (Vaishnavi Pandey)
A curlew conservation campaigner will spread his wings across Yorkshire's Three Peaks on Sunday for his latest fundraising challenge.Matt Trevelyan will attempt to scale Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough in under 12 hours - dressed as his feathered friend Cathy the Curlew - a 10ft (3m) long home-made costume.Trevelyan will be joined by his partner Claire, who will bring a touch of romance to the trek as Cathy's curlew companion Heathcliff. (Samantha Whelanand and Georgey Spanswick)
And even if they get it wrong like Emerald Fennell's heavy breathing adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's Wuthering Heights, at least they tried. (Kaveree Bamzai)
Sushil Ghimire, Balkumari College, Chitwan, NepalMindscape: A Journal of English & Cultural Studies, 4(1), 107–116This study examines Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1848) and Parijat’s Blue Mimosa (1965), two debut novels written more than a century apart, in different worlds, yet connected by a shared portrayal of women’s suffering under patriarchal authority. The research explores how Catherine Earnshaw and Sakambari embody experiences of oppression, discrimination, and premature tragedy as consequences of deeply rooted gender hierarchies. The study adopts a qualitative approach, guided specifically by de Beauvoir’s concept of woman as the “Other” in The Second Sex (1949). According to de Beauvoir, patriarchal societies construct women as secondary, subordinate beings defined in relation to men. Applying this framework, the analysis explores how Brontë and Parijat represent their heroines as trapped in gendered hierarchies yet simultaneously striving for selfhood and autonomy. The findings reveal that although Brontë was writing in nineteenth-century England and Parijat in twentieth-century Nepal, both texts depict strikingly similar patterns of female marginalization, particularly within family structures. Catherine and Sakambari resist patriarchal expectations in distinct ways-Catherine by questioning marital conformity and Sakambari by refusing to conform to prescriptive feminine norms-thereby asserting women’s agency while highlighting the universality of patriarchal oppression. By situating Wuthering Heights and Blue Mimosa in a cross-cultural and transnational dialogue, this study contributes to comparative feminist literary scholarship. It demonstrates how women writers, despite temporal and spatial distance, articulate parallel experiences of oppression and resistance, affirming the role of literature as a powerful medium for feminist critique and consciousness.
Asst. Lect. Mohsin Kamil Shlaka, Imam Al-Kadhum College I.K.CWasit Journal for Human Sciences, 22(1), 1363-1352.This study focuses on the central role of the natural environment, particularly harsh weather and storms. It reveals how nature in the novel embodies an active force that shapes characters' emotions and choices, reflects their inner conflicts, and sustains a constant tension between the human and natural worlds. From this perspective, Brontë offers an early vision of modern environmental thought by highlighting the profound connection between human experience and the surrounding environment.The research methodology employs a descriptive-analytical approach using textual analysis within an eco-critical framework. The procedures include a meticulous reading of the novel to extract natural symbols, environmental allusions, and images of the relationship between humanity and nature, followed by analysis in accordance with the principles of ecocriticism. This textual analysis and the ecocritical framework aim to provide a deeper understanding of the environment's role in shaping the narrative discourse and the characters' psychology.
In one survey, the average American felt that they used “just 37 percent of the information they learn in school.” Some of the information that Americans found “most useless” included the Pythagorean theorem, the number pi and social activities like making paper snowflakes. Respondents expressed a desire for more practical instruction, such as how to file taxes or perform car maintenance. (...)When a student is forced to write an essay about “Jane Eyre,” they are really practicing writing a persuasive argument and articulating their thoughts into words, which is useful in law, business and everyday conversation. (Maria Krylova)
Now, this film was never supposed to be a remake or a direct adaptation of the novel, and the film’s director made that clear in interviews while explaining that is why the title remains in quotes. She has stated that it is how she remembers the book from the first time she read it as a teenager. While I can appreciate that this is how her teenage self read the book, even calling this an interpretation is a disservice to the original story. Emily Brontë is rolling in her grave.Despite my qualms with the film from a literary standpoint, I actually enjoyed it. Cinematically, it is a beautifully produced film. It is visually pleasing to watch, with intricate set designs such as the walls in Catherine’s room — which were modeled after Margot Robbie’s skin and included moles, veins and even hair. The costumes and hair for this piece, while albeit not the most historically accurate, are stunning and the overall attention to detail is impressive. (Jeni Nance)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëA pioneering feminist narrative, Jane Eyre blends romance, mystery, and emotional independence in a deeply character-driven story. (Dikshant Sharma)
From windswept cheeks to just-bitten lips; the runways are overtaken by yearning. (...)The inspiration: Wuthering Heights, romance-novel yearning, feral, flushed skin, wind-beaten cheeksAs seen at: Chanel, Chloe, Ann Demeulemeester, Ermanno Scervino, and Simone RochaWhen we first saw butt-grazing princess hair at the 2024 Met Gala, we were inclined to think it was a fleeting phase. But it seems that the sighting was only the beginning of what would be a resurgence of all things romantic. In 2026, romance makes a triumphant return to the runways, red carpets, TV and film, with this year’s most heart-racing film, Wuthering Heights, based on Emily Brontë’s tragic romance novel, sweeping the world up in a surge of skin-flushing romance. Dubbed the ‘year of yearning’, it seems that the runways’ response to the world’s current state of conflict and war is one of unadulterated displays of love and feral human emotion, sparking a romance resurgence that can only be described as utterly joyful. (Nokubonga Thusi)
The Coniston Hotel & Spa has a touch of Wuthering Heights magic from the scenic hills and offers some extra thrills onsite as well...After watching Wuthering Heights and dreaming about being swept into the Dales in Jacob Elordi's arms, a staycation to the Yorkshire Dales suddenly seemed very appealing. Except, of course, there was no Jacob Elordi (no shade to my boyfriend), and my stay was perhaps a little more "indoorsy" than running around the hills like Cathy. However, the Coniston Hotel & Spa did offer a sprinkle of Wuthering Heights magic with its hilly backdrop and moody, Gothic charm... (Iona MacRobert)
Sprinkles of Wuthering Heights magic... ok. Whatever.
In contemporary popular discourse, Heathcliff and Catherine’s relationship is viewed as toxic and codependent, but deeper psychoanalytic interpretations of their behaviour become critical in studying the horrific dimensions of human attachment and desire. The themes of power, psychological disintegration and self-destructive trauma imbued in the narrative demand deeper engagement because while the characters are flawed to the point of appearing villainous, they are poignant for the fate that meets them in the end.In this, Catherine emerges as perhaps one of the most haunting Victorian heroines, progressing from a wild and untamed young woman, to an obsessive and reprehensible heroine – an antithesis to an idealised Victorian lady – finally transmuting into a spectral apparition after her death. Her character arc resists any closure as her long sickness and prolonged suffering do not end in death, but assume unheimlich proportions as she comes back to haunt Heathcliff, disturbing the ontological boundaries between life and death.Indeed, in the liminal space between life and death, Catherine is shown to be clinging to the past and then suffering endlessly due to it. Her despair, feelings of guilt and entrapment, progressive physical disintegration take on physical symptoms of fevers and anorexia that slowly wither her away. She becomes a tragic Gothic heroine not only for what happens to her in her dysfunctional relationships, but also for her emotional and sexual weaknesses that attenuate her in the end.For this reason, Catherine’s physical and emotional deterioration needs to be studied as a product of a distinctly Victorian trend and aesthetic that valorised and eroticised weakness and suffering in women. She physically embodies the cultural idea of the “consumptive chic” who is fevered, emaciated and dying, as she becomes both victim and perpetrator – the haunted and the haunting.
A video of The Huffington Post, with some AI-generated deep dives explores the Charlotte Brontë "dislike" of Jane Austen's prose. The House of Brontë publishes a video on Heathcliff, man or monster? The Brontë Sisters UK makes a graveyard exploration in Haworth that reads the stones of ordinary villagers who shared their world with the Brontës — tracing stories of loss, scandal, and survival in nineteenth-century Yorkshire.
Victoria Miro Gallery16 Wharf Road, London N1 7RW16 April–23 May 2026Victoria Miro is delighted to present a major exhibition of drawings and works on paper by Paula Rego (1935–2022). The most comprehensive exhibition of Rego’s drawings to date, Story Line shines new light on Rego’s evolving use of line in media from pen and ink to pastel, conté, charcoal and pencil, and how it was driven by her unique approach to storytelling throughout her life. The exhibition is accompanied by a new book written by the artist’s son, Nick Willing.Paula Rego considered herself first and foremost a ‘drawrer’ (her word). From political protest to personal introspection, activism to domestic power games, subversive humour to challenging family relationships, it was through drawing that she understood herself and the world around her, discovering ways of expressing complex ideas through a single image.The works on show vary from intimate drawings which have never been exhibited before to studies for some of Rego’s most recognisable paintings. These are accompanied by notes, letters, sketchbooks, photographs and other archival material from throughout Rego’s life – among myriad rarities is a drawing Rego made when she was nine years old of her grandmother, while the exhibition concludes with works including a drawing she made of her own granddaughter.
Study for Jane Eyre, 2002. Pencil on paper 42 x 29.7 cm 16 1/2 x 11 3/4 inJane Eyre, 2002 Pastel on paper 80 x 57 cm 31 1/2 x 22 1/2 in (in the picture)Young Mr Rochester, 2000 Pastel on paper mounted on aluminium 69 x 49.5 cm 27 1/8 x 19 1/2 inStudy for Wide Sargasso Sea, 1991 Graphite on paper 42 x 29.7 cm 16 1/2 x 11 3/4 in
The Brontë Birthplace in Thornton is giving free admission to anyone named Charlotte on Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26, in celebration of Charlotte Brontë’s 210th birthday.Charlotte Brontë, author of Jane Eyre, Shirley, Villette and The Professor, was born at the house on Market Street on April 21.Thomas Haigh, audience development and marketing lead at the Brontë Birthplace, said: "It was here in this very house that Charlotte’s story began, long before Jane Eyre and long before her name became famous across the world."We want to mark this special day by doing something a bit unexpected."We would love to get as many Charlottes as possible to step inside the place where her life began and to be part of a shared, living tribute to her legacy."The house will be open from 11am to 4pm, with visitors invited to explore the museum, bring family members, and enjoy the on-site café.Visitors will also be entered into a prize draw to stay in Charlotte’s room, which is now an Airbnb. (Harry Williams)
One morning in early June, 1850, Charlotte Brontë finally met her literary hero, William Makepeace Thackeray. To do so, the 4ft 8in writer - recently unmasked as Currer Bell, the author of Jane Eyre, published in 1847 - chose to wear her “power gown”, a vibrant blue-and-white floral print dress made in a fine alpaca fabric woven in her native Yorkshire.The meeting took place in the drawing room of her publisher George Smith. Thackeray was impressed, later recalling: “New to the London world, she entered it with an independent, indomitable spirit of her own.”From experience, Charlotte knew that appearance and favourable first impressions mattered. She had been stung by criticism when she joined the stylish young ladies of Roe Head School in Mirfield in 1931, told that she was “very ugly” by one pupil, Mary Taylor, who later described her as wearing “very old-fashioned clothes, and looking very cold and miserable”.A surviving drawing by Charlotte, of a young woman wearing a highly fashionable, early 1930s-style puff-sleeved gown, shows how much she had noticed and been influenced by the Roe Head girls.This is highlighted by historian and costume consultant Eleanor Houghton, whose new book, Charlotte Brontë’s Life Through Clothes, examines how surviving pieces from the author’s wardrobe give remarkable insight into her experience, her feelings and her work.The book is illustrated by Eleanor’s own beautiful drawings which capture the detail of the dresses, shawls, bonnets, boots, combs, corsets and more.Charlotte made her own clothes, with housekeeper Martha Brown, using fabrics from Yorkshire mills. The gown that later became known as the “Thackeray Dress” was made in a cloth called Alpaca Orleans, a blend of alpaca and cotton, woven by Sir Titus Salt who had mills in Bradford just nine miles from Haworth (Salts Mill in Saltaire opened later in 1953).ir Titus was a fabric pioneer, and managed to transform fine alpaca fleece into a lustrous but hardwearing fabric that quickly became a rival to silk. Printed (probably in Accrington) in a vibrant blue and white pattern of leaves and flowers, Charlotte bought the fabric around 1848 - and the blues retain their bright quality to this day.Charlotte left most of her wardrobe to her husband, Arthur Bell Nichols, and some also to Martha. Pieces were acquired by fans down the years, but many found their way home to the Brontë Parsonage Museum at Haworth, which now looks after around 150 items.The Thackeray dress was given to Martha’s niece, who made significant alterations, adding a brown collar and removing fabric from its full skirt.Charlotte’s clothing reveals a woman more body and fashion-conscious than suspected. In Brussels, she bought a corset measuring just 18.5 inches around the waist. It became a staple, and later caused concern to her publisher George Smith. Eleanor Houghton writes: “Nearly forty years after her death, still impacted by what he had seen, Smith told his friend, the novelist George Gissing, that Charlotte was ‘very vain of her narrow waist … and laced herself so tight as to injure herself’.”Pointing out that tight lacing at the time was the practice of a minority of women, Eleanor suggests that Charlotte, always conscious of her perceived lack of beauty, was “deliberately and blatantly exhibiting her femininity”. The corset might also have served as an armour as she sought strength and protection while nursing a heart broken by her unrequited love for M Heger in Brussels.On display now at the Brontë Parsonage is a paisley print dress Charlotte wore in the 1840s, exotic and vibrant in shades of duck egg blue, mint, red and black. One Haworth resident, who recalled seeing them many times in the village, said: “I don’t know that I ever saw them in owt but print - I’ve heard it said they were pinched - but it was a nice print … They looked grand.”Born on April 21, 1816, this Tuesday marks the 210th anniversary of Charlotte Brontë birth. The Brontë Parsonage Museum and the nearby Brontë Birthplace in Thornton are hosting special events, including performances and talks.Eleanor has been a consultant for many TV and film historical dramas including the BBC’s To Walk Invisible, written and directed by Sally Wainwright, and Frances O’Connor’s 2023 biopic, Emily.In 2022, in collaboration with the Brontë Parsonage Museum, she curated a large exhibition of Charlotte’s surviving wardrobe. “The museum has become a second home. The staff have been endlessly patient and helpful and always willing to clamber to the back of the Bonnell Store or to upend the library in search of a particular garment or record,” she says.“I considered why Charlotte had chosen each piece, what it revealed of her taste, the challenges she faced, and the sartorial conventions and codes of 19th‑century society.”She traced how and where the clothes were worn, how they were changed, and how they shaped Charlotte’s daily experience, studying them alongside letters and diaries, to uncover a rich, complex picture of Charlotte and her ever-changing world.“The village’s surviving mills and weavers’ cottages are reminders, too, that Charlotte lived in a landscape shaped by the Industrial Revolution and by the textile economy that produced so many of the fabrics in her wardrobe.“These gowns, bonnets, bags, and boots have presented to us a very different Charlotte Brontë,” she says. “She is a woman who is more rounded, more three-dimensional and braver, bolder, and yet somehow more vulnerable. She is less isolated and more globalised. She is more fashion-conscious and defies long-held preconceptions.“She shows herself to be very self-critical, but also provocative and tenacious. By hearing the clothes’ testimonies, we encounter Charlotte not simply as a writer but as a real, thinking, feeling, breathing woman.“Yet these clothes reveal more than Charlotte alone. They bring the world she inhabited vividly into view — nineteenth-century Yorkshire, with its rugged moors and sprawling villages; the networks of makers, merchants, and markets; the drive and creativity of industrial innovation; and the global routes that brought fabrics, fibres and influences from France, Peru, Mexico, Canada, and the United States to a little parsonage in the West Riding."They allow us to see how Charlotte navigated her social and material world, balancing expectation, personal comfort, and self-expression — and in doing so, they let us step closer to the woman behind Jane Eyre, behind Lucy Snowe, and to see beyond them to the life she really lived. (Stephanie Smith)
A lost manuscript which had been hidden for more than a century has uncovered a teenage Charlotte Brontë's fascination with "very naughty" Parisian society.The Journal of a Frenchman was the missing part of a series of The Young Men's Magazine, which Brontë edited and wrote aged 14.It belongs to the Brontë Parsonage Museum and has been analysed for the first time by the University of Chester's Professor Deborah Wynne, who said she was honoured to be chosen.On reading the magazine Wynne said she discovered aspects to Charlotte Brontë she "hadn't really encountered before"."It's written as though Charlotte herself is a French young man who's a dandy. He gets drunk and disorderly."So you've got this Yorkshire clergyman's daughter, who seems so respectable, but she seems to know all about being drunk and disorderly in Paris in this journal entry."And you realise she had this sense of humour, which doesn't always come out in quite the same raucous way in her novels."She's more ladylike in the way she writes in her novels, whereas she gave herself this freedom to write as a man and really went to town with that," she said.In 2019, the magazine was discovered and purchased by the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, where the sisters lived and wrote their novels, such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.The museum had all other issues of The Young Men's Magazine and bought the September 1830 issue when it appeared in a Parisian auction house.The museum set up a fundraising campaign, which Wynne donated to, and it returned to Haworth where it has now been examined and preserved.Six scholars were invited to analyse the work the results of which were published in The Journal of the Brontë Society last year.Wynne said discovering the manuscript was "fitting together this piece into a jigsaw"."It was an amazing experience to see that manuscript and know it had been hidden away for over a century," she said."To know I was the first person to actually push all of that jigsaw together, as it were, it was really exciting. So it's been one of the best projects I've ever worked on."She said themes in the manuscript reappear in Brontë's later more well-known works, such as Jane Eyre and Villette."She really presents the aristocratic characters in France negatively. And later in her novels, a lot of the aristocratic characters are presented negatively too," she said."So you can sort of see how she's already a little bit disapproving of her Frenchman. And in the end, he loses all of his money and he becomes a tavern keeper. And he says he's much happier drawing pints for the people who come into his tavern."There is this sense that France is a very naughty sort of place. It's a place where things go on that don't in Yorkshire parsonages."Measuring just 3cm by 6cm the magazine is part of a series of works the Brontë children wrote on scraps of paper because of the high cost of paper in the Victorian era.Principal curator at the Brontë Parsonage, Ann Dinsdale, explained the little manuscripts were meant to look like printed books and magazines produced at the time."These tiny little books have got title pages, they've got contents pages, they contain all the kinds of stories, reviews, poetry that you'd expect to find in Blackwood's magazine."Some of them have even got advertisements in the back. So these were the first publications by the Brontës really."She said the children would have created them using quill pens."It would have taken a fair amount of practise to kind of devise this almost sort of italicised style of writing that they developed for the little books," she said."It became like a secret code among the siblings because they must have realised that if their father or their aunt came across any of these tiny manuscripts they wouldn't have been able to read them."Which is probably quite a good thing because some of the content is not the kind of thing you would expect from the minister's children." (Grace Wood)
Alongside the biblical references are literary greats: the figure of Jane Eyre, less straightened than sturdy, as well as the young and handsome Mr Rochester; Orpheus and the maenads, wild and free; Germaine Greer sitting with her knees apart and the soles of her feet together. (Chloë Ashby)
Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar is weighing in on Jacob Elordi’s rapid rise and questioning whether the actor has yet proven his full range. [...]Almodóvar acknowledged Elordi’s growing star power, saying he believes the Australian actor is “without doubt” on track to become a major star. Still, he admitted he remains uncertain about how to define him, raising the question of whether Elordi is primarily a sex symbol or a performer with deeper dramatic range.“I’ve been wondering whether he’s just a sex symbol or a respected actor,” Almodóvar said, adding that he would need to see Elordi in a role that demands more before reaching a clear conclusion.The director also critiqued some of Elordi’s recent projects, arguing that they do not fully showcase the actor’s abilities. He pointed to “Wuthering Heights” and “Frankenstein,” suggesting the material limits the opportunity for more layered performances. Almodóvar candidly characterized “Wuthering Heights” as “very bad,” while noting that neither Elordi nor his co-star Margot Robbie were to blame. (Kennedy French)
3 Wuthering HeightsWhere? Yorkshire DalesYorkshire’s raw, wild, moody moors are as much a character in Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel as Cathy and Heathcliff. So where else could filming for Emerald Fennell’s movie version take place? The production used spots around rippling Swaledale, one of the loveliest and least-touched valleys in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Scenes were shot amid Low Row’s comely stone cottages and in the untamed moors above, around Old Gang Smelt Mill and Surrender Bridge – which, incidentally, also starred in the opening credits of All Creatures Great and Small. There’s great walking country all around. (Sarah Baxter)
Ever watched a movie and wondered what the main character would smell like? [...] Margot Robbie’s Barbie would go for a sugary pink gourmand scent, while her Catherine Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights would reek of mud, rain and zero closure. (Kritika Kapoor)
